Some of the major concerns of warehouse and store managers regarding the flow of merchandise include its protection against theft, including thefts at points of sale, and its traceability (namely, its identification, location, and movement).
Nowadays more and more anti-theft labels are incorporated into an article during its manufacture or packaging, based on the principle of source tagging. Applying the anti-theft element at the source (i.e., during the manufacture or packaging of the article), eliminates the need to apply it at other stages in the commercial life of the product.
Several types of EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance) systems exist on the market. The two biggest-selling systems worldwide are the radio-frequency (RF) anti-theft system, with a coil or closed-loop antenna operating between 5 and 8.2 MHz, and the acoustic-magnetic (AM) system with an element operating at 58 KHz. Both types of EAS systems make use of EAS tags attached to merchandise.
The EAS tags transmit back a signal resonating through an antenna when the EAS tags travel through an alternative magnetic field having a frequency which coincides with the antenna resonance frequency. Such alternative magnetic fields may be supplied by terminals at store exits, for example. In the current state of the art, the signal transmitted back by the EAS tag does not include any identifier.
For remote identification and location of an object, object identification is possible through the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) systems. These systems include a reader and a transponder. The reader comprises a radio wave and a magnetic field transmitter that communicates with a transponder (transmitter-receiver) located within its reading field. The transponder comprises an integrated circuit, with or without a memory, and an antenna.
RFID is increasingly used to ensure the proper monitoring of objects or of consumer goods. To this end, a transponder comprising an antenna and an integrated circuit is applied on the article or object to be tracked. The antenna is designed so that its inductance has a specific value such as to form a resonant circuit with the integrated circuit capacitance. The transponder communicates with receivers or readers whose transmitting power and operating frequency range must be adapted to the requirements of the laws and regulations in force in different countries.
For many goods in which anti-theft and tracking is desired, only the EAS element is applied at the source; the UHF element is added at a later stage in the distribution chain. Significant savings in the distribution chain could result from applying the EAS element and the UHF element to the same tag at the source. Additional advantages may be realized in the manufacturing processes for a dual tag, as described herein. Costs in material and labor may be reduced, for example, by taking advantage of similarities between fabrication processes for both the EAS and UHF antennas. In addition, cost savings may be realized by manufacturing a dual tag which is reduced in size. Dual tags manufactured by the fabrication process described below enable a small tag that also maintains a high performance level.